What the Arizona Primary Means for John McCain

Arizona Senator John McCain is likely to win today's Republican primary against J.D. Hayworth, in which polls show McCain up by about 25 percent. (McCain is also up by 20 percent
over Democrat Rodney Glassman, whom McCain will face in the general
election in November.) But at what cost victory? McCain has hedged
significantly to the right to defeat Hayworth. As this cartoon in the Arizona Star shows, many Arizonans feel there are "two McCains,"
their long-time, "maverick," straight-talking Senator, and the new
conservative, Tea Party-courting McCain. Here's what observers say about
the political toll of today's likely primary victory for McCain.

'Faustian Bargain' But It Worked Time's Jay Newton-Small calls
McCain's campaign "running so hard to the right ... [it's] a Faustian
bargain from which you risk never regaining your soul." However, the end
result is "looking pretty predictable: as a McCain staffer put it, the
Arizona senator's GOP rival, former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, 'is deader than
Elvis.'"

How McCain Won: Running Right Outside the Beltway's Doug Mataconis explains
how McCain went from what looked like the end of his career to
near-certain victory. "For one thing, people got to know J.D. Hayworth
as a guy who made controversial statements about the President's birth certificate and gay marriage, and who had spent part of his post-Congressional career For another, John McCain did the only thing he could do to survive, he moved to the right on issues like immigration, an act epitomized by a commercial
in which he finished with the line 'Build the darn fence.' That ad,
combined with McCain's connections in the state and Hayworth own
mis-steps changed the race forever and put McCain in a position to win a
substantial victory in tomorrow's primary."

McCain Legacy Tarnished? The New York Times' Marc Lacey writes, "The question now is whether Mr. McCain's sharp shift to the right during
the campaign -- the onetime maverick declared at one point that he no
longer wanted anything to do with that label -- will ultimately come back
to haunt him and perhaps tarnish his legacy as a pragmatist willing to
reach across the aisle."

Outcome Could Still Show Conservative Skepticism Politico's Charles Mahtesian writes,
"There's little chance McCain will lose his seat in either the primary
or general election, but if Arizona voters don't hand him a double-digit
win over Hayworth, it'll be a sign of just how deep conservative
reservations about McCain still run. "

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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